“Really happy for him” - Ajinkya Rahane on Yashasvi Jaiswal’s inclusion in the Test squad for West Indies series

Team India vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane has stated that he is really happy for young Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has earned a maiden call-up to the Indian Test team for the series in West Indies. Sharing a message for the batter, he urged the cricketer to express himself and not think a lot about international cricket.

Jaiswal, 21, was picked in the Indian team on the back of some excellent performances in domestic cricket as well as the Indian Premier League (IPL). The left-handed batter was one of the star performers for Rajasthan Royals (RR) with the bat in IPL 2023, hammering 625 runs in 14 matches at an average of 48.08 and a strike rate of 163.61.

In Cheteshwar Pujara’s absence, Jaiswal is one of the contenders for the No. 3 slot as India prepare to take on West Indies in the first Test in Dominica from Wednesday.

At a press conference ahead of the series, Rahane shared his views on Jaiswal’s inclusion in the Indian team.

“Firstly, I am really happy for him. [He’s a] really exciting talent. He did really well in domestic [cricket] for Mumbai, did well in IPL as well. Most importantly, the way he is batting in red-ball [cricket]… he did well in Duleep Trophy last year. For Mumbai also, his record is really good,” he commented.

“My message to him will be just to express his batting, not to think too much about international cricket and all. It’s all about going out in the middle and playing your game, playing with freedom; that is what is important,” Rahane added.

In 15 first-class matches, Jaiswal has scored 1845 runs at an average of 80.21, with nine hundreds.

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“We are not taking West Indies lightly” - Rahane

West Indies cricket is going through turmoil at the moment. Recently, they failed to qualify for the 2023 ODI World Cup in India. Their overall performance across formats has also been below par.

Rahane, however, made it clear that India are not taking it easy.

“We are not taking West Indies lightly. We don’t know about what people say on the outside, but we do not take any team lightly. Their performance here, especially in Test cricket, has been really good it the last couple of years. Our aim is to back our strengths and play according to the situation and the wicket,” the 35-year-old stated.

On the team’s preparations heading into the Test series, the senior batter asserted that they are ready.

“We played a two-day practice game, it was really good. Preparation wise, we covered all the areas. We had very good preparation in Barbados. It’s all about starting well in Test cricket. We respect West Indies and we know every Test match is really important for us. What is important to is focus on our game plan, our strengths and keep backing our team plan,” Rahane added.

After the Dominica encounter, the second Test will be played at Port of Spain in Trinidad from July 20 to 24.